black power

Saturday, I saw Beyonce‘s video for Formation and I fell in love with it. I’ve been a fan of Beyonce since Destiny’s child. Not a rabid fan but I had a genuine appreciation for her as an artist. She has a beautiful voice and she’s all about the girl power, which as the mother of two daughters, she had me from the get.

What I love about Formation is how strong she is. Giving absolutely zero fucks. I’m going to speak my mind because bitches I’ve been silent too long. She came out the box with words a blazing. The lyrics alone were strong and on point but the imagery of the video told the whole story.

She is the kind of role model I want for my little girls. Hell, she’s my new shero with this bold new side.

Here are a few lessons all little girls, especially those little minority girls of ours, can learn from Beyonce and her new video.

1. “My daddy’s Alabama, my mommas Louisiana”

Be proud of who we are no matter where we come from. Who cares if you are from the country like Bey or the ghetto like me. Where we come from makes who we become. If I hadn’t been poor and grew up in the ghetto, I probably wouldn’t be the strong broad I am today. Coming from hard places makes you scrappy and a fighter and that’s nothing to be embarrassed ever.

2. “I just might be a black Bill Gates in the making”

We can be anything we want to be. If we are ready to put in the blood, sweat and tears to get it. It can be ours. We are not limited by anything but our own determination. Don’t let other people’s opinions matter more to you than what you think of yourself. Work hard and do you.

3. “I carry hot sauce in my purse”

Firstly, me too girl, me too! Be yourself and be proud. Give zero fucks about what other people think about you. You have to live with yourself. Make yourself happy. Life is too short to spend your life worrying about what other people think about you. We can’t leave our happiness in someone else’s hands or we’d all be unhappy. We’ve got to be who we are and go after what we want.

4. ” I like my baby hair, with baby hair and afros. I like my Negro nose with Jackson Five nostrils.”

Love your body. Love what God gave you. If you are black, white, Latino or whatever else you might be we might all be the same on the inside (human) but we most certainly look different on the outside. We have different body types and we need to embrace them. I’m never going to have the “model body” of a 10-year-old boy. I have curves. It’s how I’m built. I have no ass to speak and rather large breasts. I can’t change any of it and instead of spending my life hating the body I was given, I need to embrace it and love it for what it is and not hate it for what it isn’t.

This part is everything.

5. Go for it! Slay it. Put your heart, your soul and your back into it. Take no shit. Stand up for what you believe in and don’t be afraid to make your voice heard because we all matter!

I see it, I want it

I stunt, yeah, little hornet

I dream it, I work hard

I grind ’til I own it

I twirl all my haters

Albino alligators

El Camino with the ceiling low

Sippin’ Cuervo with no chaser

Sometimes I go off, I go off

I go hard, I go hard

Get what’s mine, take what’s mine

I’m a star, I’m a star

Cause I slay, slay

I slay, hey, I slay, okay

I slay, okay, all day, okay

I slay, okay, I slay okay

We gon’ slay, slay

Gon’ slay, okay

We slay, okay

I slay, okay

I slay, okay

Okay, okay, I slay, okay

Okay, okay, okay, okay

Every woman…can I please get a HELL, YEAH? This is the anthem for African Americans and women alike. It’s a call to action. A wake-up call. We all matter and that’s worth fighting for and I can’t think of anything better that I’d like to teach my little girls.